A Clean Slate
by LynnHallow
Summary: Ethel Hallow is Cackle's Academy best (if you don't count her sister Esmeralda) pupil. She is a gifted witch and perfect student. But after a fight with classmate Mildred Hubble, Miss Cackle decides it's time for Ethel to leave Cackle's Academy and broaden her horizon. But Pentangle's and Hogwarts are the only magic schools accepting new students...
1. Not a punishment

Ethel Hallow sat outside Miss Cackle's office. She knew what it was going to be about. There was no question about it. It had to be about what happened during Miss Hardbroom's potions class.  
Mildred Hubble always got on Ethel's nerves. She was, without a doubt, the most annoying student at Cackle's Academy. And Mildred isn't even from a witching family! Ethel just couldn't stand her. It went too far earlier that day. Too far for Ethel, at least. While she was doing her best to create a flawless Tree Transformation potion (that actually took a lot of hard work), Mildred just kept fooling around with her friends and messing up whatever she was trying to brew. It looked nothing like a Tree Transformation potion. Mildred's potions never looked like what they were supposed to be.  
Ethel could have just tried to keep concentrating on her own work, but she just couldn't. Mildred kept distracting her. And Ethel couldn't take it.  
She knew that it was totally against the Witches Code. Rule one, paragraph three. Magic is never to be used for selfish or trivial purposes. And this had been very selfish.

The wait was very long. It would have been horrible waiting there to be punished anyway, but knowing that her parents were inside talking to the headmistress made Ethel feel nauseous. How long had she already been there? Even though it couldn't have been more than an hour it did seem a lot longer than that.  
Ethel tried to think of things she was going to say to Miss Cackle. Obviously they weren't going to believe her if she tried to tell her that it was Mildred's fault. Miss Cackle had always given Mildred Hubble the benefit of the doubt and seemed to always stick up for her. It was unfair. Mildred didn't even belong at Cackle's Academy. She knew nothing about the craft or magic in general. Mildred had just been very lucky. But Ethel's success was all down to hard work and a lot of practice. Why did everyone always praise Mildred for every single thing she did, and why was Ethel always the one receiving detention?

The door suddenly opened and Ethel stood up. She tried to smile to Miss Cackle, but she was too nervous. So Ethel put her hand on her forehead and bowed.  
"Well met, Miss Cackle," she said.  
Ethel was shocked to notice that Miss Cackle looked quite upset. She wasn't smiling as she usually was and seemed really cold.  
"Yes, well met, Ethel," Miss Cackle said. "Please come inside."  
Ethel followed her headmistress inside the office. Her heart sank when she was her parents looking terribly disappointed. Ethel felt too bothered to greet them, but she did sit down next to her mother, who did not even look at her.  
Miss Cackle sat down behind her desk and looked at Ethel with the same disappointed expression on her face as Ethel's parents. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all.  
"Ethel... You have been one of the best students Cackle's Academy has ever had," said Miss Cackle. "Your marks are excellent, you take your work and classes very seriously and you were more than prepared to take your Witches Higher Certificate exams."  
Ethel tried to smile, but she was still too anxious to do so.  
"But bullying is not, and will never be, tolerated at Cackle's Academy," Miss Cackle continued. "I have been very patient with you, Ethel. But you have given Mildred Hubble a hard time since she arrived at this school. Mildred has done all she can to fit in, even though she is from a non-magical background. I thought my pupils were tolerant and accepting. Discrimination is strictly against the Witches Code and Cackle's Academy's school rules. Do you understand that, Ethel?"  
Ethel nodded.  
"Yes Miss," she said. "I do understand and I am very sorry."  
"You should be!" said Ethel's father. "This is not what a Hallow should act like. If only you could be more like your sister, things wouldn't be..."  
Miss Cackle interrupted the man.  
"Mr Hallow," she said. "I'm sure Ethel is very sorry. She is well aware of the Witches Code. Aren't you, Ethel?"

It went silent for a short moment. Ethel knew that her parents already knew what the punishment was going to be. They were avoiding eye contact with Ethel. Her parents always did that when they were hiding something from her. It could not be good. Ethel was in so much trouble.  
"Since this has not been the first time this has occurred, and you've been given several warnings, your parents and I have decided that perhaps it's best for you to continue your studies at another school," Miss Cackle said. "Please know that this is no punishment. As I said, you are one of our best pupils and a very powerful witch. But your behaviour has been bothering the other students in your year, and as we're only a small private school, we are very concerened about this."  
Ethel didn't understand. Was she being expelled? Sent away just like that? What did Miss Cackle even mean? It couldn't have been that bad, could it? Alright, she hadn't always been to nice to Mildred, but did that bother all the other students? It didn't... Did it?  
"Miss, I don't understand," said Ethel. "Am I being expelled just because I don't get along with Mildred Hubble? I'm sorry Miss but... I just... I don't understand! You can't expel me just because of that!"  
For the first time in a while, Miss Cackle smiled. But it did not make Ethel feel at ease.  
"Ethel, you aren't being expelled," she said. "Miss Hardbroom and I have been talking about this for a while. You're a very intelligent girl. Your mind needs to be challenged and we're not sure Cackle's is the right place for you. We have looked at some other schools and currently Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and Pentangle's Academy for Witches are accepting new student. And with marks like yours I don't think it would be too hard to obtain a scholarship."  
"Not that we need that," Ethel's mother said. "We do have the funds to pay for all our daughter's education. In fact, we have been so generous to donate a couple of thousand galleons for this school building's maintenence."  
"Yes, yes, Mrs Hallow, we are still very grateful," Miss Cackle said with a friendly smile. "I only meant that a talented young witch like Ethel is guaranteed of a spot at the school of her choice."

Ethel was so confused. Was she being sent away because of what happened with Mildred or were they just using this because they hadn't had the chance to bring it up yet. Apparently Miss Cackle had been talking about it to Miss Hardbroom before it had even happened. It did feel like she was being sent away. And it made her feel terrible. Ethel didn't want to leave Cackle's! The Hallows have attended Cackle's for generations! They couldn't just expel Ethel just like that! No matter what she had done to Mildred. She belonged at Cackle's Academy! Ethel belonged at Cackle's.


	2. More than second best

Ethel and her parents had spent nearly an hour in Miss Cackle's office. For the last twenty minutes, they were joined by deputy headmistress Miss Hardbroom, who had been a witness to Ethel's attack on Mildred.  
That was what Miss Hardbroom called it, at least. Ethel herself wasn't too proud of herself for calling Mildred a mudblood, and Ethel should have never used that Shrinking potion on her, but it really wasn't an attack. Ethel didn't think it was. Mildred had gone back to normal. She probably would have ended up worse if she had used her own failed potion.

"You do realise that it is of paramount importance that young witches at Cackle's Academy work together, don't you Ethel?" Miss Hardbroom asked.  
Ethel nodded. She was afraid to look Miss Hardbroom in the eye so she stared at the floor.  
"Yes Miss Hardbroom," she said. "I am very sorry about what happened in your class today."  
But it wasn't about Miss Hardbroom's class anymore. Ethel's "attack" on Mildred wasn't why they decided it was best for Ethel to go to another school. But it had been the last straw. Too much had happened since Ethel and Mildred both started at Cackle's.  
It took a while, but slowly, Ethel was starting to understand. They were doing this to help her. Miss Cackle knew the Witches Higher Certificate was easy enough for Ethel to pass. There was so much more she could do.  
"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is a boarding school like Cackle's," said Miss Cackle, who handed a leaflet about the Scottish magic school over to Ethel's parents. "They are a very traditional school. Co-ed, though. But so is Pentangle's Academy for Witches. The main difference between both school is Pentangle's students take the Witches Higher Certificate exams while Hogwarts does O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. levels. Do you have any questions about this, Ethel?"  
Miss Cackle looked at Ethel and then at her parents. Ethel didn't have any questions and neither did her parents. Actually, Ethel knew her parents probably had loads of questions, but they did not say anything. They were humiliated and felt insulted that their child was being sent to a different school. But Ethel already started getting used to the idea of going to Hogwarts of Pentangle's. Going to school without Esmeralda. Her sister who was always best at everything. This was Ethel's big chance. A chance to be more than second best.

Ethel's parents left for another appointment before Ethel got the chance to say goodbye to them. So when it was time for her to go back to her room she had no one to talk to about what she had just heard. Ethel was desperate to tell Drusilla, but the idea of telling her made Ethel feel really anxious. She was going to leave her only friend behind. Perhaps she was to make new friends at another school. It was probably easier to meet new people when their expectations weren't as high as they were at Cackle's. And definitely easier without a popular gang like Mildred and her friends. Ethel would never forget how they were cheering for Mildred after the Spelling Bee, even though it was Ethel who did all the hard work. But Drusilla did cheer. Drusilla cared. And that really did mean something to Ethel.

She passed Drusilla's door on the way to her own room. Ethel hesitated. Was she going to knock on Drusilla's door or not? She stood there for a couple of seconds and decided she was going to go to her room without telling anyone. Ethel needed some time to think. She was supposed to spend time at both schools. Trial phases. She was not to decide until June or July, and then start the new term at either Pentangle's or Hogwarts.  
Ethel knew a bit about Pentangle's. It was similar to Cackle's, and they were only a couple of mountain tops away from Cackle's. Hogwarts on the other hand, taught a whole different kind of magic. And it was in Scotland.  
In a way Ethel thought it would be exciting to make a totally fresh start at a school so different from Cackle's, but it frightened her as well. Ethel knew so much about a very specific kind of witchcraft. She was more than ready to take her Witches Higher Certificate exams. O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. levels... Ethel had heard about them but she knew they would require her to get new equipment. A wand for example. Ethel had never seen one in real life and she wasn't sure if she was going to be able to use it like the Hogwarts students who had been working with them since their first year.  
It kind of worried Ethel. She did not have to choose Hogwarts, but she was going to go there on trial anyway. She did not want to be a second Mildred Hubble. No. She was going to work hard and make her family proud. No matter where she would be going, she was still a Hallow.


End file.
